Veritas, Vol. 48, No. 09, June 2006

              ta* I m
AcUUnntlyTwnd,
*sr f
3 A $ 1 million gift from TotalBank
chairman Adrienne Arsht will help strengthen the UM Ethics Programs.
4 Severely damaged by three
hurricanes last year, UM’s Gifford Arboretum is now on the path to recovery.
Volume 48 - Number 9 ■ June 2006	For the Faculty and Staff of the University of Miami
www.miami.edu/veritas
UM SCIENTISTS AID IN STORM READINESS AND RESPONSE
Emergency responders will not be alone in their efforts to help South Florida prepare and recover from the effects of hurricanes this storm season.
Making their jobs a lot easier will be researchers at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Using sophisticated satellite imagery of storm-ravaged urban areas, Rosenstiel scientists will provide emergency response teams with damage assessments of flooding, bridges, roadways, power facilities, and utility poles.
“Before hurricanes make landfall, we will generate high-resolution wind field images for the National Hurricane Center,” says Hans Graber, professor and codirector of the Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS).
Graber’s colleague and CSTARS codirector Timothy Dixon has been studying subsidence in New Orleans and how it contributed to flooding in
Storm tracking: Hans Graber tweaks a few settings on the CSTARS computers that download satellite data.
the city after Hurricane Katrina.
His study will help reconstruction efforts in the city and will aid similar coastal areas that could experience flooding due to subsidence, rising sea levels, and increased hurricane activity in the decades to come.
Meanwhile, Shuyi Chen, associate professor of meteorology and physical oceanography, is analyzing the data collected from her Hurricane Rainband and Intensity Change Experiment.
During last hurricane season, three aircraft flew simultaneously into hurricanes, recording information on wind speed, temperature, pressure, and other critical data. Among the data Chen captured: the rapid intensification of Hurricane Katrina, an entire eye-wall replacement cycle in Hurricane Rita, and the full life cycle of Hurricane Ophelia.
Improved communications and alternative power sources are among the enhancements
UM upgrades disaster preparation and recovery
With what is
forecasted to be another
busy hurricane season now upon South Florida, the University of Miami has updated its Disaster Preparation and Recovery Plan, implementing a number of new strategies designed to enhance the institution’s hurricane readiness and response.
The improvements cover virtually every aspect of disaster planning—from communications and hurricane supplies to fuel reserves and alternative power sources—and are the direct result of a special disaster planning committee that was formed to address the University’s hurricane readiness in the aftermath of last year’s record-breaking season. Feedback from UM’s Emergency Advisory Committee, which assesses disaster plan performance after every storm, also prompted the enhancements.
For the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, forecasters have predicted another busy season. Noted hurricane experts Philip J. Klotzbach, William M. Gray, and their colleagues at Colorado State University, for example, have predicted an above-average season of 17 named tropical storms and nine hurricanes, five of which will be Category 3 or higher.
With researchers at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science predicting a prolonged cycle of busier-than-usual hurricane seasons for years to come, “it is critical that the University continues to review and update its disaster plan,” says Alan Fish, vice president for Business Services and chair of disaster management for the University-wide Crisis Decision Team. Among the improvements to UM’s disaster plan:
• A new Web site will allow the University to keep track of employees and students who must relocate if they live in an evacuation area. Faculty, staff, and students can notify the University of their new location and provide contact information via http://recover.miami.edu. The online tracking tool will also help University officials identify employees who need emergency assistance.
“One of the lessons learned from Katrina last year was that all organiza-
Hurricane Hotline Numbers
Coral Gables Campus: 305-284-5151
Medical Campus: 305-243-6079
Rosenstiel Campus: 305-421-4888
Outside of Area: 800-227-0354
UM Switchboard: 305-284-2211
To view the University of Miami Disaster Preparation and Recovery Plan, visit www.miami.edu/prepare.
tions need to have a way of finding, assisting, and communicating with individuals who have left the region in the aftermath of a major event like a hurricane,” Fish says.
• Members of the University’s Emergency Advisory Committee will be supplied with satellite phones, a move necessitated by the unreliability of cell phone service after hurricanes affected many South Florida cell phone towers last year. The new satellite phones, which are identical to the ones used by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), cover the entire continental United States, Alaska, and the Caribbean.
“Communication is vital before, during, and after a storm,” says Jerry Lewis, vice president for University Communications. “Satellite phones will enhance our ability to communicate in even the worst conditions.”
• The University has contracted with telecommunications giant Telefonica to Continued on page 7
William Green named to new position to lead undergraduate initiatives
William Scott Green, a nationally recognized leader in undergraduate education, has been named senior vice provost and dean of undergraduate education at the University of Miami.
The current dean of the College at the University of Rochester in New York, Green will start his UM post on July 1, taking the reins of a newly created position that will have overall responsibility for enhancing the undergraduate experience at UM and strengthening the integration of University-wide undergraduate curricular and co-curricular initiatives.
Green, the Philip S. Bernstein Professor of Judaic Studies at Rochester, will also hold an appointment as professor of religious studies and be a senior fellow in UM’s Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies.
President Donna E. Shalala says the new post that will be occupied by Green is central to the University’s
Building core strengths: William Scott Green, a nationally recognized expert on undergraduate education, will lead efforts to enhance the undergraduate experience at UM.
long-term plans for educational excellence. “William Green is the best person in the country to lead our
Continued on page 3